| Thomas Henry Kavanagh | |
| Birth Date: | 15 July 1821 |
| Death Date: | 13 November 1882 (aged 61) |
| Birth Place: | Mullingar, County Westmeath |
| Death Place: | Gibraltar |
| Placeofburial: | North Front Cemetery, Gibraltar |
| Battles: | Indian Mutiny |
| Awards: | Victoria Cross |
Thomas Henry Kavanagh VC (15 July 1821 – 13 November 1882) was an member of the Bengal Civil Service and Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry which can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
He is one of only five civilians to have ever been awarded the VC.
Kavanagh was a 36-year-old civilian in the Bengal Civil Service, an assistant commissioner in Oudh during the Indian Mutiny, when the following deed took place on 9 November 1857 at the Siege of Lucknow, India for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross:
An erratum appeared in a later edition of the London Gazette stating that the deed was actually performed on 9 November as follows:He was nicknamed by the British press as Lucknow Kavanagh.[1]
In addition to the Victoria Cross, Kavanagh was promoted to be an assistant commissioner in Oudh, and helped in the suppression of scattered mutineers.
Kavanagh died in Gibraltar on 13 November 1882, and is buried at North Front Cemetery, Gibraltar. He was one of only five civilians ever to be awarded the VC.
His medal (and a first edition of his book, How I Won The Victoria Cross) was held for more than 50 years by HistoricalMilitaria.com in Toronto, Canada.
The VC was sold at auction at Noonans Mayfair on 14 September 2022 for a record hammer price of £750,000.[2]
Kavanagh appears in George MacDonald Fraser's Flashman in the Great Game in which he is portrayed as a bungling glory-seeker who has to be led through the enemy lines by a reluctant and terrified Flashman.
. Monuments to Courage . David Charles Harvey . 1999 .